Today is my second day in Chiang Mai, a northern province of Thailand. I am with a friend who organized this trip as a birthday present (or escape) for herself or rather as a congratulatory present for herself for braving and facing the day of the big 3-0.
Chiang Mai is beautiful, with Baguio weather and a rich history that its people are proud of. We have been eager tourists, hiring a tour guide from whom we learned, among other things, that Chiang Mai, formerly the Lanna Kingdom, has been around since the 13th century, with a predominantly Buddhist people who dearly love their King Mangrai. The province is known for elephant tours and (like most other provinces of Thailand) its many temples. We visited 3 temples today (Chiangmai has hundreds). I have never seen so many Buddhas in my life.
Being Catholic, while I appreciated the history and philosophy of it all, the highlight of my day was experiencing authentic Chiang Mai cuisine. The cuisine has been influenced primarily by the Thai (duh) but also by Myanmar cuisine (Myanmar/Burma almost took over the Lanna Kingdom had not a king presented his daughter to become a consort of the King of Siam, who then protected Chiang Mai from Myanmar).
Responding to our request for authenticity, our tour guide, Mrs. Panudcha, brought us to Ruam Jai Kai Yang. It's a beautiful hole in the wall, with chicken being roasted right by the street.
The chicken being roasted by the street made its way to our table, of course. Honestly, it was just ordinary roasted chicken. However, once you dip it the sauce that comes with it, it becomes something else. Kind of like putting on a king's elaborately ornamented robe, I guess. I will never get over how they mix seven or so flavors in their dips alone. This one had a fish sauce base (patis!) mixed with (drumroll please, ang dami nito) tamarind sauce, chili powder, palm sugar, lemongrass and spring onions. So for this chicken, the most enjoyable part for me was the white meat because it's what soaked up this lovely concoction, as opposed to my usual favorite chicken part, the skin.
What Mrs. Panudcha raved about, however, was the Papaya Salad. When I saw this, I wondered, where is the papaya? I was expecting the soft orange papaya that we are used to. This one uses green papaya. I guess the kind we use for achara in Bulacan. This was a lovely, light salad that was crunchy and slightly sour. The sourness came from lime juice, which works, I guess as its vinaigrette, tempered with palm sugar. The carrots and zucchinis added some sweetness but I loved the addition of peanuts, which gave it a whole other dimension. Don't you love how peanuts totally change the flavor of anything? Like the bangle or necklace that suddenly gives character to a little black dress.
We also had Snake Fish Head, which, I learned, is very similar to catfish. While catfish is softer, this one has less tinik. But the participation of the fish in this meal was terribly outshined by the pork dishes. They have an amazing hot and sour soup called Tom Sap C Khong Moo (funny, moo in their language refers to pig). This is made distinct by the flavor of the lemongrass and kaffir leaves. Being adventurous, I also tried and loved their take on pig liver, which they offer in thin slices that are fried. The dish is called Tap Moo Tod. It's like fried pig liver chips. Would be awesome with some pale pilsen. But the winner is the Moo Dad Deaw or fried marinated pork. It is amazing because 1) it is all pork fat but cut thinly that you don't get satiated by it too soon 2) it is marinated well that the unhealthiness of it all is camouflaged and 3) it comes with fried kaffir lime leaves that you can munch on alongside the pork which gives it that authentic Thai dimension. Beautiful little bits of pork heaven!
We had dinner at the fancy French restaurant of the Mandarin Oriental a few hours later. While that was also delightful (raves on that later), it was a different experience altogether and the highlight of my day was still hands down this little hole in the wall presenting authentic Chiang Mai cuisine. RUAM JAI KAI YANG
Bunrueang Rit Road, Sripoom District, Muang, Chiang Mai
053 215 912; 081 583 4916
There is no sincerer love than the love of food. - George Bernard Shaw
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